Safety and Dose Finding Study of Xigris in Hemodialysis Patients

In United States, there are over 300,000 patients with ESRD who require hemodialysis. Clinical hemodialysis takes place three times a week and is dependent on adequate anticoagulation throughout the three to four hour procedure. Infection is one of the most common causes of death for patients with ESRD treated with hemodialysis (25%). Xigris (drotrecogin alfa activated) is a recombinant form of human activated protein C and is successfully used for treatment of adult patients with severe sepsis. In addition to its fibrinolytic properties, drotrecogin alpha has both an anti-inflammatory effect, and an anti-coagulant effect. However, there are few safety and no efficacy data on the effect of Xigris in ESRD patients as an anticoagulant.